Steve Brisendine / Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - Rookie Brendan Gaughan, who finished 10th, put on a feisty performance in his postrace interview.

First, he took on the media for what he said was undue focus on the 10 drivers in contention for the Nextel Cup under NASCAR's new championship format. "You guys are making the big ballyhoo about the Chase for the Cup," Gaughan said. "It doesn't mean they're going to win every race, guys. It doesn't mean that they are going to be top 10 every race. There's 43 teams out there, and we're all racing.

Gaughan also had some choice words for Goodyear, whose tires he blamed for cars' propensity to get loose in the second turn at Kansas Speedway.

"I love Goodyear, but man, I just hate the tire that we have now," he said. "It reminds me of that Goodyear we had from 2000-2001 - the one that we used to call the 'Death Twitcher.'

"I went into turn two, and one time in particular I was heading toward the wall," Gaughan said. "A lot of guys were doing it, and some guys get a better handle on it, and some guys don't. We're a team that's still trying to get a handle on this tire."